doubled_speed | For Wearingthestars

I wish I wasn't alone.

The words were whispered from inside the relative safety of the tiny closet in Tommy Shepherd's bedroom in Springfield, New Jersey. Whispered because there was no way that he wanted Frank or Mary, fighting in the living room, shouting and screaming, to hear them.

I wish I wasn't alone.

Repeated as Tommy held his hands out before him in the darkness palms up. He put as much conviction behind them as he put into anything he said starting with those two words. He had found rather quickly that whatever this power of his was, it came more readily when he framed it as a wish.

I wish I wasn't alone.

He repeated a third time. Three times always seemed to be the right amount when it came to willfully using his power. Even now he could see the faint green glow of energy radiating from his hands, trying to catch his words and shape them into whate he was asking for. At school he didn't always need it three times. He could feel the energy building in his gut like a tidal wave and crashing over him when he wished the bullies would leave him alone, or that he'd actually gotten a good grade so Mary wouldn't yell at him, or that the shirt that got torn up and bloody was clean so Frank wouldn't hit him for wasting good clothes.

Now, though, the words didn't seem to catch, and after a moment of held breath, the energy faded back, leaving behind only the briefest flash of sparks and static that he had to shake out of his hands. Apparently even magic, or whatever this was, couldn't help him.

It was a stupid wish, anyway, Tommy realized as he pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. And then, of course, he flinched at the sound of a breaking plate. They were getting bad tonight. He didn't want to be alone, not with them shouting like that. Sometimes it turned into Frank driving off to drink. Sometimes Mary stormed to their room and locked the door, leaving Frank on the couch. The former tended to mean Frank not coming home at all that night, and when he did the next day he smelled like booze and some other woman's perfume. The latter tended to mean Tommy couldn't sneak some breakfast in the kitchen before school, or being caught if he tried and he really didn't want to be on the receiving end of Frank's belt.

“Dammit. All I wanted was someone to talk to.”

He feels the rush of power even as he feels his body go limp and the world go dark around him. It’s a strange mix between a sneeze and passing out. When the sensation passes things are weird. For one thing, he can’t feel his body. There isn’t the cold of his room or the rough drag of his scratchy wool sweater that is too small for him or even the gnawing in his belly. No, there is just the swelling feeling of his magic, a prickly energy across his skin, and this place.

This new place is nicer than his room. There is more space. There are nerdy decorations on the wall. There are no cracks anywhere or dents from fists or broken furniture. He hates seeing how much nicer this place is than his home. But he is more interested in why his magic brought him here. And in the soft green light everything around him seems bathed in. Tommy raises his hand, or maybe just the concept of a hand, and is faced with the scary truth. His whole body is green and transparent. Okay. That is a bit weirder than normal.

Welcome, Tommy Shepherd, to the world of astral projection. And Billy Kaplan? Meet the strange, glowing ghostly boy in your room.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

From:

wearingthestars

That sound makes Billy's heart ache, and he blinks back stinging in his eyes, nodding again. "Y-yeah. Yeah she'll come, of course. She's here for you, just like me, we all are. We love you, Teddy. I can't...even imagine what you're going through, but I love you so, so much, and we're going to do everything we can to help."

From:

doubled_speed

"Yeah. I know. I gotta... I'm going to grab a shower. Cap says I can use the one down the hall. Stark installed it, it's got, like, five shower heads."

Clearly Teddy is looking for SOME good.

From:

wearingthestars

"Heh, super cool," Billy offers, trying to match the same enthusiasm that sort of nerdom would earn under normal circumstance.

"'Kay. I'll...let you go. ...Love you."

From:

doubled_speed

"I love you too, Billy. A lot," Teddy against, and there is such conviction in his voice. "More than anything."

Because Billy's what he has left.

From:

wearingthestars

And there go the tears. Billy hopes it's not too evident in his voice, pushing them away and giving a tight smile.

"We'll figure this out. I promise."

From:

doubled_speed

"Yeah," Teddy says. "I... I gotta go."

That's all he can give Billy for right now. His life is sorta in limbo.

From:

wearingthestars

"Yeah. Kay. Love you." Billy sighs as the call ends, laying back on his bed. He has no idea what he's doing. If he's saying the right things. Are there right things in a situation like this??

He just wishes he could take all of Teddy's hurt away. Just...turn back the clock and make everything okay again.

From:

doubled_speed

There isn't an answer other than doing his best to try and keep Teddy out of the foster system.

Tommy's back soon, a towel for his hair, and one around his waist.

"Showers are n ice."

From:

wearingthestars

Teddy and Tommy both. Maybe his parents will take both of them in. Though that might mean moving at this point.

Billy's had some time to compose himself by the time Tommy's back, eyes a bit red still, but he smiles easily, offering up some pjs, having all ready changed himself.

"You still hungry?"

From:

doubled_speed

Pajamas? Tommy hasn’t ever worn any. But he does pull them on because they are offered. And hey, comfortable.

“Yeah. I could still eat a little.”

Becaus ehe isn’t sure he won’t be sent back in the morning.

From:

wearingthestars

Billy looks away again to offer privacy.

"Well, I do believe we were promised desert then, whenever you wanna do that. Oh, and here-" he offers up a brush while he remembers, "And remind me later, I can find you a toothbrush, I didn't think about that before."

From:

doubled_speed

Privacy? What is that? But he does take the brush and runs it through his hair.

“I can probably magic a brush.”

From:

wearingthestars

"Yeah, I guess compared to everything else you've done a brush isn't all that hard, huh?" Billy flushes and nods.

"There probably isn't much you can't do."

From:

doubled_speed

Tommy shrugs. "It's... about wanting it. I've wanted all I've done until now."

How much will he want a toothbrush?

From:

wearingthestars

Billy smiles faintly, glad that he's part of what Tommy wants. It's such a strange power. He can't imagine what it'd be like to have that at his fingertips. What he might be tempted to use it for.

"I don't think I could handle it if it was me."

From:

doubled_speed

Really? Of them, Billy was the good person. The person who was happy.

“It is more than want I think. I have to be able to visualize it. So I could never, you know, make my parents love me.”

Hilariously, that spell had fizzled for their reasons. First: the Kaplan’s were his parents. And they’d always loved him.

From:

wearingthestars

Wincing, Billy tries not to let that look live too long on his face. But it's hard after hearing something like that.

"...You did...in a way," he offers uncertainly, meaning the Kaplans. Normally he'd reassure him that of course the Shepherd's loved him, but...given what he knows about them...Tommy might be right.

From:

doubled_speed

“You’re really buying this hospital mixup thing?” Tommy asks, voice soft. “Because seems bs.”

He wants it to be true so bad.

From:

wearingthestars

"Mom knew about your birthmark. And...it makes a whole lot more sense that we're twins than that were were born looking completely identical by accident," Billy insists.

From:

doubled_speed

Wait what? Tommy is left staring in shock. Looking alike is one thing. Losing a twin is another. Recognizing a birthmark? Tommy's hand goes to his side and he frowns.

"I... I want to believe it's true, Billy. But you're literally the one good thing that's happens to me and that seems impossible."

From:

wearingthestars

Billy nods pointedly. He'd left out that detail earlier, but more solid proof seems necessary now.

"Well...we'll find out soon enough. But...even if we're not related by blood, it's not like we're just tossing you out on the street. You're basically a Kaplan now. So long as you want to be."

From:

doubled_speed

"I don't want to be a replacement for a kid they don't have," Tommy says. And his voice definitely has a sharp edge to it. He doesn't want to be taken in because they want someone else. Billy can't get how much that would hurt.

From:

wearingthestars

"You're not...you wouldn't be. That's just...what they would want. They like you. They like...taking care of people. They're probably going to try and do the same with Teddy."

Honestly, he's surprised his parents don't have a whole house of rescued children by now.

From:

doubled_speed

Yeah, that really doesn't sound likely. No one likes him. Hell, Tommy could already tell that most of Billy's team didn't like him. But, you know, Vision had been looking at them strangely after everything. Still, that isn't important. Whatever.

"They don't know me, Billy. They don't know anything about me."